Mario Super Sluggers Review

Back in 2005, Gamecube owners felt a pulse left in their console. Mario Superstar Baseball was a fun game to end your summer on, and though it was simple and didn’t do anything groundbreaking, it was a blast to play with your friends for awhile. The Wii followup has the same impact and doesn’t change too much, but is just better enough to be worth a pickup.

Gameplay

You’d think after all these sports, Mario wouldn’t be as chubby as he still is. Well, Mario’s game of baseball hasn’t change all that much except really how you control it. Back in 2005, you had to press A to hit a ball, hit A with the control stick in a certain direction to throw the ball to bases, and press A to pitch. This time it’s all about waggle. You swing to hit (though it’s possible to just flick your wrist if you want to), swing to throw, and swing to pitch. While this might not sound too different from before, it’s much more satisfying to perform these motions than simply pressing A. Besides those motion controls and some new moves with characters that have chemistry, everything’s pretty much the same.

Sound and Visuals

The entire voice cast is here (a.k.a. mostly just Charles Martinet) and they sound as high quality as they always do. Besides that, the sound of the bat against the ball is the icing on the cake of swinging and the rumble that comes with it. All other sounds are typical Nintendo quality. Graphics aren’t anything that stunning. Again, you have typical Nintendo quality visuals, but definitely on the mid to lower end. The game is slightly, but noticeably better looking than it’s predecessor. Everything is colorful and fun to look at as usual.

Value

When you buy this game, you got yourself a very solid multiplayer experience and fun game that doesn’t get that old that quickly. I do have one problem, though. Bringing a Mario baseball game to Wii was the perfect opportunity to take it online and make it bigger! Unfortunately, they didn’t do it though. Though it’s not a deal breaker, it’s a big disappointment. It’s always more fun to play against humans as opposed to the computer. Even if it’s as minimal as Mario Strikers Charged’s online, it would still be cool. Otherwise, you can rarely doubt what you’ll be getting when you give your $50 to Nintendo.

Conclusion

Mario Super Sluggers is a blast of a game. Though it’s nothing hugely innovative, wildly popular, or that much of an update from it’s prequel, it’s still just so much fun. I can’t stress it enough. This is another opportunity where you have to look past the fact that the game’s not loaded to hell and back with features like crazy and just buy it because it’s so much fun. Definitely get it if you like games that are plain fun and don’t have the first one, and if you really loved the first game a lot, this is a worthy update and worth your cash. Get it!